BYOD split-bill app maker launches in Australia

George Nott |
July 20, 2016

Syntonic hopes to open an Australian office later this year

Despite the threat of lawsuits, demand for split-billing solutions could go either way. There has only been one related legal action in the US, and none in countries like Australia or the UK where BYOD is popular.

A 2015 Gartner survey of six countries found that more than 80 per cent of workers who use a personal device for work do not receive reimbursement for mobile or internet access services. A report from May this year found the average amount paid to employees for personal device use had fallen by about 25 per cent since April 2014.

Nevertheless, BYOD is big. More than 70 per cent of workers indicate that they use a personal device for work, according to Gartner, representing a huge opportunity for viable solutions.

Consumer angle

Syntonic is currently piloting deployments in the US and plans to tap into US, UK and China markets and 'absolutely' Australia. The company hopes to set up office on these shores later this year.

It's consumer-focused offering FreeWay - an app for companies to offer sponsored data to users to play games, access specific content or use apps overseas - is being targeted at the Southeast Asian market.

"We believe 2016 is the year of sponsored data," added Greenbaum. "and Southeast Asia and Latin America are emerging as the world's largest and most active prepaid data markets, where consumers have demonstrated an enormous appetite for accessing mobile content and apps.

"Both [enterprise and consumer markets] are very, very big. Just capturing a very small percentage of it makes us a very successful company."